The invention relates to the field of telecommunications. More specifically, the invention relates to network elements that can process data of different protocols within data transmission signals.
With the advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW), the need for high-speed transmission of data including video and audio has continued to increase. Moreover, in addition to the demand for higher bandwidth, there has also been an increased need for various types of services that employ different protocols. For example, certain customers of high-speed networks may want to employ a High Level Data Link Control (HDLC) protocol, while other customers may want to employ various types of an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) protocol. Additionally, other types of protocols that customers may desire include a voice over Internet Protocol (IP) protocol.
Network elements are used to route or switch data of these different protocols across such high-speed networks. Examples of the types of data signals that can be transmitted and received by these network elements include Digital Signal (DS)-1 and DS-3 signals, which include a number of channels. Examples of other types of data signals that can be transmitted and received by these network elements signals based on the Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) standard or Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) standard. Moreover, these network elements typically include a number of line cards that include a number of ports to receive and transmit these data from. In order to accommodate the different protocol types, conventional network elements are designed and provisioned such that a given port on a given line card processes data of a particular protocol. In other words, a particular port to tied to a particular type of protocol. Disadvantageously, this limitation precludes the handling of data of different types of protocols for a given port of a network element.
A method and apparatus for processing data of differing protocols within data transmission signals are described. In an embodiment, a method includes receiving at least one signal, wherein the at least one signal includes a number of channels such that each of the number of channels can include different protocols and different configurations for the different protocols. The method also includes processing data packets in each of the number of channels in a predefined order.
In another embodiment, a method includes receiving at least one signal, wherein the at least one signal includes a number of portions. Each of the number of portions can be processed based on different protocols and different configurations for the different protocols. Additionally, the method includes processing at least portions of data packets in the number of portions of the at least one signal.
In one embodiment, a method includes receiving data packets within a number of channels of a signal. The method also includes processing the data packets within the number of channels in an order. The processing of a channel of the number of channels includes retrieving a previous state of the channel and the configuration data of the channel. The processing of the channel also includes determining a protocol of the channel based on the configuration data. Additionally, the processing includes determining a configuration of the protocol of the channel based on the configuration data. Moreover, the process of the channel includes processing a protocol header of the data packet in the channel based on the protocol and the configuration of the protocol. The processing of the channel also includes saving the current state of the channel as the previous state of the channel.